The IU Student Government Congress voted against two resolutions to impeach Student Body President Aaliyah Raji and Vice President Marsha Koda on Monday.
Congress failed article one of resolution No.7, which would have sent two Articles of Impeachment against Raji to the IUSG Supreme Court, with three representatives voting yes, 19 voting no and 15 voting present. They then indefinitely tabled the second article in resolution No. 7 and the entirety of resolution No. 8, which would have impeached Koda.
Speaker Jack Tyndall said this means the two resolutions cannot be brought up for reconsideration and that the impeachment process against Raji or Koda will not proceed forward in the future. He said someone could draft and file new articles of impeachment against Raji and Koda, but they would have to be different from resolution No. 7 and No. 8.
The articles — written by Recorder Aidan Chism, Parliamentarian Drew Yeager, Chair of Student Life Enzo Caggiano and representatives Justin Farajollah, Shane Sanders and Daniel Kurgan — alleged Raji and Koda failed to fulfil their constitutional duties of being a spokespeople for the entire student body, according to the resolution. The resolution also alleges that Raji and Koda knowingly turned in their campaign finance statements past the deadline, which should have resulted in their disqualification from the election.
Congress’ vote comes less than three weeks after the IUSG Committee on Oversight and Finance released a final report recommending that Congress draft Articles of Impeachment against the student body president and vice president. The committee had launched an investigation into Raji and Koda’s leadership and accusations of antisemitism in November after five IUSG executive members resigned from their positions.
RelatedIUSG committee recommends impeachment but is accused of perpetuating racism, bias in antisemitism investigation An IUSG committee report found the student body president and vice president failed to uphold their constitutional duty.
However, five members of IUSG’s executive cabinet, including Raji and Koda, who are the first Black women to be elected to the student body president and vice president positions, accused the committee of bias and perpetuating racism during the investigation.
Public comment and voting
Speaking to members of the public and Congress during the meeting Monday, Raji said the Oversight and Finance Committee has publicly slandered her name.
“The Aaliyah Raji which has been wrongly characterized and illustrated to the public by the congressional branch of the Oversight and Finance Committee is not who Aaliyah Raji is,” Raji said.
Raji said her safety on IU’s campus has been jeopardized since the beginning of the investigation.
“I am a student who has been deprived of the ability to learn from their mistake and have instead been put on a burning stake to be made an example of,” Raji said. “Aaliyah Raji is me, and I am not what I have been painted out to be. I am myself, and I will no longer be a victim to questioning my identity, leadership style or character.”
Before voting on the resolution, Elizabeth Conley, who serves on the Committee on Oversight and Finance, proposed the legislative body amend the resolution to censure rather than impeach Raji and Koda. A censure would publicly and formally condemn Raji and Koda’s actions and include a nonbinding call for corrective action to rectify their mistakes. However, this motion failed.
Yeager, who also serves on the Committee on Oversight and Finance and was one of the authors of the resolutions to impeach Raji and Koda, said he changed his mind after listening to public comment and urged the other representatives to vote for Conley’s amendment.
“I have sat in these committee meetings, I have thought about it, read all these documents and I made a decision that I felt was worthy of the student body,” Yeager said “As I sit here tonight, I am listening to the student body, and I understand that I no longer believe my decision represents the majority opinion of that student body.”
After the censure amendment failed, Yeager motioned for Congress to reconsider it, but this failed too.
Congress voted on the resolution to impeach Raji after more than two hours of public comment, during which IU students, alumni and community members voiced both support and opposition to the articles of impeachment.
Several IU students expressed that impeaching the two leaders would not give Raji and Koda an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and would silence other leaders of color in the future. Some commentors also said IUSG’s investigation into Raji and Koda was rooted in racism.
“You can at least give a tiny bit of grace to those Black women who want to make a change on this campus, who have fought tirelessly to get to where they are,” one IU student who spoke during public comment said.
Student body presidents and vice presidents from Ohio State University and the University of California Los Angeles also attended the meeting to speak on Raji and Koda’s behalf. OSU Student Body President Bobby McAlpine said he has been able to work with Raji and Koda through the Association of Big Ten Students, a networking organization for student government leaders in the Big Ten Conference.
“As I read through these impeachment articles, I want to comment on the fact that this has sent shockwaves throughout the entire Big 10 community,” McAlpine said. “While I am not here to comment on any situation that I was not a party to, I am here to tell all of you today that President Aliyah Raji and Vice President Marsha Koda both have a passion and dedication for everyone that’s sitting in that room no matter who you are.”
Former Vice President of Chabad Abby Rose, who previously served as Chabad’s representative to IUSG, urged the Congress to impeach Raji. The Committee on Oversight and Finance’s investigation report details an incident during a Congress meeting Oct. 30, when Raji had said Rose was “playing the victim.”
RelatedIUSG hears testimony about antisemitism allegations; investigation accused of bias An IUSG committee is investigating accusations of antisemitism against the president and vice president.
“I am the student that was silenced by the person who is supposed to represent me as a student and fight for me, yet she did quite the opposite,” Rose said. “Everyone who is saying Aaliyah is only 20 and deserves the right to learn, we gave her the chance and she continued to mock and ignore our concerns.”
Former Hillel President Rachel Applefield, who testified in an Oversight and Finance Committee’s hearing as part of the investigation in November, said IUSG has not done enough to support IU’s Jewish community.
“Aaliyah made a mistake, she did, and we called her out on it and instead of working towards fixing her mistakes she chose to divert the issue and make a huge problem out of it,” Applefield said. “She had a chance to fix it — she chose to not. This is not what a leader does.”
IUSG Supreme Court decision
Before Monday’s meeting, Brink Wolak, who ran against Raji for the IUSG presidency in 2023, requested the IUSG Supreme Court issue an order to nullify Raji and Koda’s election certification, which, if approved, would have removed the two leaders from office. Wolak alleged Raji and Koda submitted their financial statement after the required deadline. The court rejected this appeal, stating the decision to nullify the certification would disregard Congress’ role in the impeachment process.
“The structural integrity of IUSG can only be maintained through branches respecting each other’s authority,” the court said in its decision. “During the current tumultuous period for IUSG, this mutual respect is more important than ever.”
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to include the full list of authors of the resolutions.
